Standing on floors in supermarkets, home centers, and other retail establishments, display stands of the type noted above are in widespread use to display food products, hardware products, and other merchandise. Commonly, such display stands made are made wholly or predominantly from corrugated paperboard, on which advertising graphics are printed.
If made wholly or predominantly from corrugated paperboard, a display of the type noted above tends to wick water from its lower edges so as to lose its structural integrity when a floor on which the display stand is standing is cleaned. Also, such a display stand tends to be readily damaged at its lower edges if struck by a cleaning appliance, such as a floor buffer. Generally, as known heretofore, such a display stand has been regarded as having a useful life not longer than about four to eight weeks.
A display stand of the type noted above may carry as much as one hundred fifty pounds of displayed merchandise. Consequently, it can be very difficult to push, pull, or turn such a display stand carrying displayed merchandise without stressing its lower edges and risking damage to its structural integrity.